This invention relates in general to firearms and deals more particularly with improvements in firearms of the smooth bore type.
A smooth bore firearm, such as a shotgun, used in hunting fast-breaking small game is not ideally suited to fire a solid projectile or slug of the type required in hunting deer or other large game. However, interchangeable barrels have been provided to adapt a firearm of the aforedescribed type to all types of hunting and shooting. It is also known in the art to provide a gun having a rotary barrel without rifling in its bore and which will impart spinning motion to a bullet. Such a gun is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,406,089 to Martineau, issued Aug. 20, 1946. In the Martineau firearm, barrel rotation is accomplished by means of a turbine rotor attached to the barrel and driven by gas liberated on explosion of a cartridge.
The general aim of the present invention to further increase the versatility of a basic firearm, such as a shotgun, by providing an improved smooth bore rotary barrel mechanism for firing both shotgun shells and slug type ammunition.